To reduce exterior noise inside a motor vehicle passenger area or a truck cab area, and to protect the interior of the motor vehicle passenger area from the elements, the doors must be properly aligned and sealed in the door openings. A door latching component is conventionally mounted on the door jamb for engagement with a latching mechanism mounted on the door, and the door latching component is generally provided with a rubber enclosed steel sleeve at its latch contact area to accommodate and compensate for misalignment of the door latching components and the latching mechanism as the door is closed. For safety purposes, these door latching components must be aligned so that they engage properly to latch the door in the closed position.
According to conventional truck cab assembly practices, wedges are fastened to the top and bottom of the cab door to center the door in the door jamb in a top and bottom direction, and to prevent interference between the top and bottom edges of the door with the corresponding portions of the door jamb. Alignment assemblies such as a mating pocket and cup mounted on corresponding portions of the door and door jamb, and protruding rods which contact alignment means are also known to the art. These arrangements do not, however, provide proper alignment of the door and the door latching components in the fore and aft direction.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a door alignment assembly and method for proper alignment of a door in a door jamb in both the top/bottom and fore/aft directions.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide improved door latching safety and reliability by accurately aligning door latching components mounted on the door jamb with the door latching mechanisms mounted on the door.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to simultaneously provide positive alignment of the door in a door jamb in the top/bottom direction and in the fore/aft direction by means of an alignment assembly mounted in proximity to the latch assembly.